On Sat, 6 Dec 2008 15:18:14 +0000, Dave Cushman
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>I do not think that Nutritional Crossbreed Technology will turn anything
>on its head, I find it an interesting concept which should be explored
>further in terms of artificial larval diets, but like so many other
>things, I can't see research money being made available for it.

I think it, and research like it, turns everything on its head. This
basically means that characters present in the DNA coding can be
switch on and off by any number of chemicals including elements in the
food and environment, collected deliberately by bees (nectar, pollen,
propolis), inadvertently by bees (pollution and pesticides), or
introduced into the system deliberately or carelessly by us.

This points to a role for external or environmental factors in
altering behavior, morphology, etc. both temporarily and permanently.
So it could be that we can alter bee behavior temporarily, as needed,
or permanently with changes in diet! It could also account for why
organisms develop resistance so quickly, more quickly than one might
expect from natural selection.

Again, it is the Chinese who are at the forefront of this type of
research and I assure you that if they can find a way of
"crossbreeding" cerana with mellifera, or somehow altering gene
expression to mimic such a hybrid, they will.

-- 
Peter L Borst
Danby, NY  USA
www.people.cornell.edu/pages/plb6

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